Oregon Boletus

Hello
This is Kevin S. Wendy and I went up to Anthony Lake in Oregon and back down to Baker City via Granite. I finally found some King Boletes just before we got to Granite. I pickup up maybe 15 small ones but they still had a lot of bugs. I only had 4 or five that the bugs weren't to thick. I did see some old morels but in general the picking were slim. There were some larger over ripe ones around but not that many. The road just opened up past the ski area. We only one lane open in parts of the road due to snow.

Bryan came home for the weekend, and we took off to McCall to look for some Boletis edulis. We went up to Brundage Reservoir and Bear Basin. We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of morels still available to pick. We got a box full...some very fresh and some near the end of their life. The morels are under the brush near the white fir, but not hard to find. As we were ending the day Bryan, with his uncanny ability to find what he is looking for, stumbles upon a beautiful double King Bolete about 8 inches across. Best news...NO BUGS!! Then we found a basket full of baby boletes, some eaten by deer and squirrels. Anyway....yeah....the boletes are in!

Owyhee morels

My wife and I found a couple of handfulls of morels on the upper end of Sucker Creek in the Owyhees. They were under aspen and willow. Has anyone else found morels in the Owyhees? The wildflowers are spectacular all the way from the salt desert shrub to upper sagebrush and lower meadows. The aspen and upper meadows are yet to bloom for the most part. We also found quite a few meadow mushrooms.
Gar Lorain, Boise

Road Closures

I picked up a copy of the Council newspaper today. Pretty good summary of the damages caused by last weekend's rain and lots of pictures. Road closures in Adams County are numerous. If you plan to venture forth into Washington or Adams or Valley County you should call the local district USFS office first. The Middle Fork of the Weiser River road is closed. The bridge over Boulder Creek (that is the creek and bridge just a hundred yards or so before coming to Cabin Creek Campground) has washed out. There are so many bridges and roads washed out in Adams County that they have to prioritize which ones will be opened first. The Middle Fork of the Weiser road is not high on the priority list so it may not be opened this year. You might be able to access the Cabin Creek area by coming over the top from Donnelly, but there may still be snow covering the road on top. Don't try to travel that route without checking with the USFS on the road's condition or any other forest and county road after what happened last weekend---Bill Betts

Weiser Golf Course

Checking out the Coprinuses. There hundreds of them in this corner of the lot. I have not taken the time to determine what kind of Coprinus, but I know they are not Tippler's Bane or Shaggy Mane.

Lauren gets up nearly every morning and patrols her acre to take inventory of what new mushrooms appeared overnight. She often is rewarded with a new one. Her yard would be a good place for a field trip and she could tell you where even the tiniest 'rooms can be found. Pondering the concept that the above mushroom is poisonous. Definitely an amanita and probably the Angel of Death, but I could be wrong.

How about a little slime mold? My granddaughter did not want much to do with this "mushroom" and did not consider it to be mushroom:)

When I visit my son's home in SE Boise near Regatta and Law in the Pierpoint subdivision (I believe this is the site of the old Triangle Dairy), my four year-old granddaughter tours her acre-yard and finds all the mushrooms so she can give me the guided tour when I arrive. That is the first order of business when I come to visit. She had found eleven different mushrooms if we include the slime mold.

If you click on a picture, you will get a larger, more detailed picture.

An avid golfing friend brought to me a gallon Ziploc bag full of Agaricus campesteris yesterday morning. He said the Weiser golf course is covered with them. Joe Malay picks a bunch and takes them to the cook in the restaurant to cook for him--Bill Betts

shaggy manes

I was looking at a lawn across from my folks' house by Boise Ranch Golf Course and white mushrooms were popping up all over as well as the next house down. I grabbed one and they all turned out to be shaggy manes. They really stand out in a lawn. They were quite large as well.
Gar Lorain sw Boise

Foray by Sue

SIMA had their spring foray during a rainy 100-year flood type weekend. All of our great pre-planning went out the window (or should I say down the river) with the adverse weather conditions. The trip planned to the Upper Payette Campground - out! Road closed due to flooding. Ditto to the Lick Creek run. That limited the hunting grounds. The weather also put a damper on some day trippers who hoped to come up on Friday for the main foray. Don't feel bad for staying home. Hunting, while productive, was miserable. Rain, wind, hail, and 30 seconds of sunshine just to tease us! For those of us who persevered, we were blessed with great food and great company. We had some day visitors from Pullman who were fun to visit with, as well as some new club members on their first official foray. Over 70 species were identified, with more than that collected! Saturday did bring some sunshine. About 15 club members or visitors went out to hunt morels and find some new specimens for the count. Bryan led a group from Bear Basin to Brundage Mt. Road. The first stop was very productive for morels, as everyone filled about 1/2 bag or basket with fresh, large morels. They were found in the grass in open areas, up high. The second stop showed the value of moving on down the road, as only a few were found. The limiting elevation was found when we went to the Goose Creek Trailhead parking, and found little guys. The group disbanded to go their separate ways then. I stopped at a promising piece of ground, near where Ann and Wendell had indicated they had done some productive picking. They were a bit modest. Two hours later, and 4 baskets later, Bryan and I went home to dry more morels! Thanks for the tip, guys. I hope everyone made it home OK, and Kathy found a way around the road closures today!